Oh, Margo... I'm not really that scared... Words, like colors, mean so many different things to different people - and we have so many wonderful people on TQS from all over the place - I don't want to offend any of them. But it can be just a little scary.

Because you know, I like my food spicy, my thread variegated, my pot stirred, and my friends supported.

Wow. :shock: It took me 45 minutes to write this and agonize over it.

I am the type of student that needs to read things several times/watch things several times to catch all of what I want to learn. With the online classrooms and the wonderful lessons I can do just that. I can watch programs twice if I want. I have worked the late shift for many years and simply have lived with the fact that I cannot attend many meetings or classes. Sometimes I catch up on TQS at 2AM! I have learned so much about quilting from the internet (and especially TQS).

Keith wrote:

Come on, Keith!! Don't be skeered! All opinions are allowed!

Keith <<< Now afraid to say anything in the Forum anymore... I thought Kathy's comment was very innocuous... like "when I got bit by the quilting bug"...

I am sorry Rosemary had such a bad experience with her cross stitch group.

Communication, communication, communication......... Before we all had access to the internet my contact with friends in other countries relied entirely on letters, so we often didn't hear from eachother for several weeks. Now contact is instant, and the exchange of information, photos, etc. is inexpensive. That's what I value most about todays technology: the fast and regular contact I can have with friends.

AlexAnderson wrote:

DO NOT FORGET PODCASTING... there about 12 active quilting podcasters out there .... including Anne Smith who connect with their listeners ... talk about their quilting experience and even do PODCAST lessons. Not all quilter's podcast but a whole bunch listen in.... I love connecting with quilter via podcast... meet a lot of nice people


but most of all it gave me a voice.

.

Yes the Internet and all it offers has been very inspirational and motivational to me too!

Another online advantage is the virtual "classroom." So often the classes that interest me are not offered or get canceled due to low enrollment at the local quilt shops. A friend suggested that I check out Quilt University. I loved it! There were participants from at least 3 continents.

Now I have signed up for another online class. It starts next week.

We recently had the biggest attendence ever at our local guild show. Through the internet we were able to find all of the quilt shops and guilds in a certain radius of our city. We sent out, via email, an invitation to all who fell within the circle, which totaled around 200. The internet definitely played a part in the sucsess of our show. Some areas (like Canada) even hired a large tour bus for a day trip. And, there were two smaller busloads of "excited and buying" quilters!

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

kathyst2 wrote:
Kathy, I felt a bit uneasy when I read your phrase 'When I saw the light and started quilting', to me it sounds as if you are denigrating your knitting experiences & other crafts.

I realise that this is probably not the case; but having been chucked out of a Cross Stitching Club for daring to take a time sensitive (needlework) project that was not cross stitch, without being asked what it was or why I was doing it at that meeting - Nobody queried what I was doing at the meeting, and the following day I had a phone call that basically said don't turn up unless you are doing cross stitch & only cross stitch, even your cross stitch & beading left a mess of beads on the floor. From this experience I try to be sensitive to the fact that whilst saying that 'my xxxx craft is great/the best!' is fine; we should be careful not to say 'my xxxx craft is better than yours'. Because apart from anything else, a lot of us will go through many phases of different hobbies through our lifetimes, and although we no longer practise previous hobbies, it all adds 'roundness' to our outlook on how we approach our next passion/hobby, it doesn't make them 'lesser', just a 'been there, done that, got the T-shirt and had a good laugh with those friends'.

We all need to be careful how we use our languages when we are typing, because we do not have the other physical cues of voice tone and body language to help interprete what is being said. However I love making connections with other quilters on this site and other needleworking crafts through the internet, but unfortunately I have yet to sort out a good balance of personal sewing and online perusal of sewing.

In addition to all of the advantages already mentioned, TQS allows me to travel vicariously to quilt shows across the US and around the world. I have traveled to Japan, Africa, Holland, any many more places via TQS online that I would most likely never see otherwise.

I started out machine knitting almost 20 years ago at the dawn of forums- anyone remember Compuserve? I got a lot of answers to questions on Compuserve and later, on the internet mailing lists. When I saw the light and started quilting, it was so natural to try and find a community of quilters. TQS has been that for me.

The internet allows me to connect with other quilters, to see what they are doing and how they are doing it. I love seeing quilt show winners and hearing about classes. I can shop for quilting books online, and quilting gadgets. I can check out techniques or reviews of sewing machines. On you tube, I can search for videos of machine quilting, or setting up my sewing machine, or dyeing fabric. I can watch a video of Kaffe Fassett from Danish TV (it was fascinating).

I love my books, can't stop collecting them. But it's the contact with people on the internet that is so gratifying.

Can't imagine not using the internet to widen my experience of quilting.
And Alex and Ricky, you have provided a place for so many of us to come in and be comfortable. We need internet mavens and visionaries like you. Thank you!

Kathy

Louise wrote:
It's funny, but for me the quilting resources on the internet make me spend more time quilting rather than less. The surfing time comes out of other activities because what I find online inspires me both to finish my current projects (so I can post pictures) and start new ones. For me, it's all win/win!

Nancy

I agree with all of the comments so far about the advantages the the Internet brings to quilters. There is at least one disadvantage, however that should be addressed, namely, becoming addicted to the Internet. Online, we talk about quilting, look at beautiful quilts, learn about quilts and quilting techniques, connect with quilting resources, connect with other quilters worldwide, and watch inspiring shows about quilting; but that isn't quilting. Quilting is the actual doing of the thing, and we're not doing it while we're online. Obviously, the advantages far outweight this disadvantage, but we need to be remined that after we've been given all the quilting tools the Internet provides, we actually need to do it to call ourselves quilters.

Good luck with the presentation. You're always an ace!